The Catholic Church is at the forefront of organizing protests demanding elections in the DRC, despite government intimidation.
Persistent economic and social disparities between urban centers and outlying communities present an ongoing source of instability for countries in the Maghreb.
Enhancing Maritime Security in Africa
The Seychelles has been at the vanguard of protecting the maritime domain and prosecuting maritime crimes along Africa’s east coast. The latest Africa Center Maritime Security program examined the country’s approach to combatting criminality on the seas and lessons for other maritime states in Africa.
Term Limits for African Leaders Linked to Stability
A third of the 18 countries lacking term limits are facing armed conflict. This is the case for just two of the 21 countries with term limits.
Combating Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
Despite earning the inauspicious title in recent years as the shipping corridor with the highest number of piracy attacks in the world, regional responses to piracy and maritime security threats in the Gulf of Guinea, have been fragmentary. Maritime domain awareness remains low, interagency coordination is limited, and intra-regional coordination mechanisms that have been established are often underfunded.
Topic in Focus: Security Sector Governance
The classic approach to disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) is faltering in an environment that now includes violent extremism and transnational mercenaries. Countering violent extremism and de-radicalization must be integrated within DDR. As has been seen by the number of well-educated and middle-income recruits to violent extremist organizations, DDR must refocus its goal from socioeconomic reintegration to social cohesion as a precondition to sustainably reintegrate former fighters.
As the political crisis in Burundi continues, its army, whose post-war reform to depoliticize and professionalize it was long seen as a model for success, is now being torn apart by numerous defections, purges, and competing factions conducting tit-for-tat assassinations. The institution’s integrity and its ability to remain at the service of the people rather than become the President’s personal militia has been permanently damaged. The fact that a career in the Army could soon no longer guarantee a good and steady salary could also contribute to further instability. The degradation of Burundi’s military is a clear outcome of the political crisis. Reversing this trend will require resolving the crisis.